avatar ripped of my childhood! old school 2000ad knowlege required...

[hurihenra]

When I was a kid I read this incredible story in 2000ad. it would have been around 1994  but i remember it well. Well enough at least to recognise the uncanny resemberlance that the film 'Avatar' has to it. I know that Avatar has been accussed of plagerism before but I've not seen this comic mentioned. Its possible it was originally by mobius but I'm not sure. I'd love to track it down so any help would be really appreciated. I'm not referring to a french comic called 'wake' by the way. below is a description of what i can remember from the story.

 Its about this blond guy (who wears a red outfit and has a bubble over his nose and mouth so he can breath) going down to a planet and befriending the natives. the natives are white with red eyes and mate by drinking fluid from cups that run down their spines. They are very spiritual and in touch with their 'living' planet. Evil humans with bowl hair cuts and a sci-fi/medevil look come to eradicate them an rape the world of resources. After moderate success evil guys get their assess handed to them by natives and aforementioned blond guy. This success comes from the natives attack on the backs of massive dragons. A bit like avitar i think. don't get me wrong, loved the movie but can't believe know one has brought this up!

Any help on tracking down this comics name would be fantastic!

[Professah Byah]

http://www.heavy.com/post/avatargate-the-case-for-the-prosecution-3351

[hurihenra]

"Firekind", incredible, thanks! was an itch that needed scratching!

Man, that was such a great comic. great art, story everything! I'll have to get the old 2000ads out of storage.

yeah, it did get totally ripped off by avatar and came out just before james cameron wrote the script in 1994. it should get royalty's! its the pixies-nirvana thing, great original work paves the way for the mainstream sound.

[radiator]

Speaking of avatars - that is one quality one, Professor.

[klute]

Maybe rebellion will do a reprint of firekind id buy it

[Tweak72]

It was an Extreme Edition a while back so it may be unlikely it will be printed as a book. But then again...

[Huey2]

Firekind is indeed a great little story. As a die-hard reader back in the '90s this was an oasis of quality amongst some real dross.
John Smith and Paul Marshall have got to be 2000ads most under-rated creators. Both have been churning out quality work for about 20 years and neither seem to get the recognition they deserve.

- Huey

[birchmanste]

true,but you've gotta remember plagiarism is the name of the game,especiallly in the world of scifi.sure dredd is only dirty harry with aa helmet and a heart really,still love him.and avatar acually rocked

[Mike Gloady]

There's a lot of difference between plagarism and inspiration.  Dredd's character was inspired by Dirty Harry & Rollerball among other influences, but it's not quite the same thing as plagarism (Shok/Hardware).

[Jim_Campbell]

but it's not quite the same thing as plagarism (Shok/Hardware).

FWIW, Richard Stanley has always maintained that there was no conscious intent to plagiarize Shok -- rather that the similarities manifested at an entirely unconscious level, which I'm inclined to believe. There've been enough times over the years where I've thought I've come up with a brilliant idea only for someone to point out that it's actually like a Future Shock/ Twilight Zone/ short story ... it's the short one-offs that tend fall below the threshold of immediate recollection but which lurk somewhere below the surface.

Cheers

Jim

[Mike Gloady]

No, fair play.  I can't actually think of any examples of proper plagarism.

Richard Stanley put the credit on the flick, presumably because the resemblance was so close which was probably wise.  I know when I first saw it, waaaaaay back when, I remember shrieking at the screen that I'd already seen it.

[TordelBack]

Don't know if anyone saw this rather good if savage article on the latest Harry Potter lawsuit, but there's some interesting comments about what is and isn't plagarism:

http://nielsenhayden.com/makinglight/archives/012205.html#012205

I liked:

Non-writers think it’s the ideas, rather than the execution, that make a book. They’ve got that backward.

It's one thing to 'borrow' ideas or images, it's another to make something new and accomplished with them.  World consciousness, dragons and flying rocks, lone soldier going native, all common ideas.  Firekind and Avatar, unique iterations of those ideas.

[Mike Gloady]

Yeah, you're right.  It's all down to how it's done isn't it?  Resembling another piece of work doesn't mean you've ripped it off, merely that you might share common inspiration with the creators of that work. 

[Jim_Campbell]

No, fair play.  I can't actually think of any examples of proper plagarism.

Richard Stanley put the credit on the flick, presumably because the resemblance was so close which was probably wise.  I know when I first saw it, waaaaaay back when, I remember shrieking at the screen that I'd already seen it.

To be fair, it took a threat of legal action to get that credit onto the film, but I imagine that was the studio or the producers fighting their corner rather than Stanley being a dick. Although Stanley has never (in any interview I've read) admitted to being a 2000AD reader, he has freely admitted that his cousin was a staffer for the IPC Youth Group in the 70s and acknowledges that it was entirely feasible for him to have had sight of Shok.

Cheers!

Jim

[Mike Gloady]

Thanks for the clarification Jim.  I'd rather be put right than be right.